Did you embrace the nihilistic views due to some sort of unrest in your life? Did they help you get through a period of time that was difficult? Perhaps your nihilistic views have lost their purpose and no longer serve you?

If you really wanted to learn the material in school, why didn’t you make more of an effort to do so? Is it because you didn’t want to learn it as much as you thought you did, or was it some other barrier you encountered that prevented you from doing so? It’s easy to look at it all as a failure, but I’m betting you learned or will learn from the experience overall, if you look for the lessons.

It’s hard to process and figure out why we do certain things in life that don’t really benefit us, but one thing we can do as logical beings is change our habits and ‘outthink’ our tendencies.

There are likely ‘gateway’ habits that lead to other bad habits that help waste time or get you nowhere. When you realize you have triggered a habit, try to figure out a better action that you can consistently do in place of the bad habit’s action to change your fate. If you can shift just a few of these key habits that lead to other negative habits, you can change a lot in a short amount of time, at least enough to feel like you’re making a difference in your life. Simple things like turning off notifications on your phone, not checking email 24/7, and doing something out of your comfort zone can make an immediate impact.

I feel like I’ve wasted a ton of time in my own life, but I no longer destroy myself for doing so. I have learned that the past does not define who I can be today, embracing the present moment is important, and that small positive changes over time can add up.

I don’t write on the forums too much, so please forgive me if I’ve assumed too much and overstepped. Your post resonated with me!

@lostandlovinit I don’t have much to add, since there have been plenty of great things mentioned already, and you seem to know what you need to do. I did want to mention the film Smashed, which may help you see a different side to your situation. Yes, it’s “just” a movie, but I found it to be quite realistic in its portrayal of addiction and alcoholism, and co-dependency.

You’re welcome! I hope they help @liviedizzle

I think many people underestimate (and to an extent, misunderstand) the value of clarity in content and design where it relates to website growth. Here are some random ideas on both, that I try to practice and encourage:

CONTENT

Use simpler and fewer words to describe your ideas.

Visually break up your posts with strong subheadings and paragraphs that don’t allow your readers to get lost.

Edit yourself, or get someone to do it for you. Be consistent in how you write and strive to get better.

Good titles make a huge difference. Test different variations when you share your titles. Each source of traffic will respond differently to the words.

DESIGN

Forget that you made your site and visit it while trying to emulate a few different potential paths that readers could take. Some examples:

1) A user lands on your homepage via Google search. Do the keywords or phrases you rank for relate to the content/solution you’re offering on your site?

2) A user lands on a blog post via Google search. It’s more likely that the post relates to the specific keyword or phrase. Is your site laid out in a way that allows for easy consumption of the content, while having convenient ways for you to encourage another visit (email list signups, social subscription, etc)?

3) A user lands on your site from a referral from a friend, or from your social media profile. Does the site reinforce your value? Is it designed to support your personal and business goals to connect with people?

When a person visits your site, they need to instantly recognize (consciously or unconsciously) what it’s about. Many people have too much ‘stuff’ (text and images and widgets and other things) and so someone unfamiliar will have trouble categorizing and keeping your site in their mind for the future.

It should be easy to identify you/your site by the feeling(s) you’ve created with the color, layout, wording and graphic design of your site, as well as the obvious use of a symbolic logo and/or tagline.

Data is useful and will help guide your decisions. Everything should have a reason for existing, in your design. There are many ways to measure whether your reasons are sound, or not. Google Analytics, Crazy Egg, KISSmetrics (and many more) will give you valuable insight on where people actually come from, what they read, what they read it on, and so on. Measure, analyze, adjust, repeat.

Hmm, open in new window AND the embeds aren’t working for some…odd. Added to the list!

Why are you considering a switch? I prefer Madmimi and Mailchimp, depending on the complexity required.

I’ve  always ended things with brutal honesty before I had something else lined up. Not the best way to go about it, but it just didn’t feel right otherwise.

I soon came to realize I really just wanted to work for myself!